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General Note

The "Olivette" was built in 1886 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by William Cramp and Sons for Henry B. Plant. The length: 274' 3", beam: 35' 2", depth: 11' 9", gross tons: 1,611. It was launched on February 16, 1887 and its maiden voyage was on April 19th.

It was built for the Tampa, Key West, Havana run in the winter and the Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine in the Summer and Fall. It brought tobacco out of Cuba for Tampa cigar factories just prior to an embargo. The Olivette brought the survivors of the "Maine" back to the United States. She helped evacuate American citizens from Cuba. It overturned while taking on coal, was raised and repaired. She returned to the Tampa-Havana run in 1899. In January 1918, coming into Havana fog, she stranded on a rock off Coljima Beach. No lives were lost but she was a total loss.

Florida Memory is funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services.